The primary objective of the Scholar Program at our Center is to prepare the candidate for a career in academic medicine and biomedical research and to assist in the development of individuals (either MD, PhD, or MD. PhD) into productive independent investigators in the field of sickle cell disease. This program will add to the critical mass of such "Scholars" over time. Most important is that it is this cadre of individuals who will, we hope, become the Clinical Program Directors and NIH Principal Investigators of tomorrow. The resources for this individual will include patients receiving state-of-the-art clinical care at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, the clinical research staff of the Marian Anderson Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, the MAC Research Laboratory Facilities in the Department of Pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University, and the Laboratory Facilities and Education Program of the Cardeza Program for Hematology Research also at Jefferson Medical School. Dr. Marie Stuart, the Principal Investigator of the Program, will serve as one of the Mentors for this Scholar, with dual mentorship as appropriate, dependent on the area of research activities identified by the Scholar in pursuit of his/her academic and scholarly activities. It is anticipated that this individual will develop a research program that will complement the ongoing basic science, translational, and clinical research of the Marian Anderson Center's investigators.